Online CPD courses

There seem to be a number of online cpd courses on offer and they seem like a good alternative to attending a traditional course, so I wondered if anyone had any experience of these and hopefully could recommend a provider.

I am a big fan of these, they save a lot of wasted travelling time and you can also share the cost between a number of people in the office (assuming you're not a sole practitioner). I have just started using the 2020 Group webinars and they seem to cover all the basics. I use them with 3-4 people from the tax team each month, then the quarterly accounts/audit I share with the corporate team. The good thing about using them with others is that you can discuss how the course content applies to clients, and perhaps prompt someone to go away and take action immediately.

2020 are however cheapskates and make you use a 5p per minute phone like rather than streaming the audio over the internet as others do - so knock a point off for that!

SWAT and Mercia both offer live webinars, I have found both excellent.

For tax I don't think you can beat TaxTV because it uses decent full screen video, which is much more engaging than audio with a Powerpoint slide show. Top presenters and topical but very practical content.

CCH and Tolley also offer webinars - I find them both a bit stiff. Live webinars, especially if they have even a small video window, have a much better dynamic than pre-recorded audio only courses.

We use SWAT and particularly like their unlimited training option (£420 for CPD or £480) for unlimited including trainees as it allows us to go on some high profile London courses very cheaply and also use the webinars or CDs. Fits in well with our KISS philosophy to life!